Judge’s charges toss hints at Willis disqualification ruling: legal experts

Fulton County, Georgia Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s tossing of several “minor charges” against Donald Trump and some of his co-defendants on Wednesday may be a good indication of how he will rule in the Trump team’s efforts to disqualify the District Attorney prosecuting the sweeping election interference and conspiracy case, Fani Willis, according to several legal experts.

Willis is under scrutiny over her “personal relationship” with one of the special prosecutors she hired to work on the investigation and indictment of Trump and his 18 co-defendants. Trump and some of his co-defendants have alleged a conflict of interest exists.

Judge McAffee is expected to hand down his ruling on the disqualification motion this week.

The six charges McAffee tossed on Wednesday “relate to alleged efforts by Trump and others to solicit violations of oaths of office from state officials like Brad Raffensperger and former GA House Speaker David Ralston,” Lawfare’s Anna Bower reports.

CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen writes, “in somewhat of an indication that Judge McAfee will NOT disqualify Willis, he’s refusing to throw out key elements of the RICO charge although he is tossing a few of the later counts against a few of the defendants for lack of specificity.”

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Eisen, a former U.S. Ambassador who is also the co-founder of the States United Democracy Center explains:

“If he were gonna disqualify Willis, he likely would not have bothered to wrap up this very detailed order, since he’s busy and disqualification will effectively freeze the case for a while.”

“But that is only a mild indication, not a strong one,” Eisen cautions. “He could be thinking something different. That being said, it tends to reinforce my strong view of the applicable law and the evidence that disqualification does not apply.”

NPR’s Stephen Fowler appears to concur: “Also reading between the lines some, this order could be a sign that McAfee is not inclined to disqualify Willis and the Fulton DA’s office from the Trump RICO case, a decision is expected to come soon.”

Attorney Adam Cohen, Vice Chair of Lawyers for Good Government also says, “it looks like he will not disqualify Fani Willis.”

But former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman, a frequent MSNBC legal commentator, says McAfee tossing the charges is not a harbinger of his upcoming ruling on the motion to disqualify Willis.

“It’s hard to see any tea leaves to read in McAfee’s order dismissing the 6 counts about his disposition of the Willis disqualification motion, which he has indicated will be coming soon. But it could add to the public sense that the good ship Willis is taking on water.”

On the tossing of the charges, former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti notes, “Fani Willis and her team could reindict and add those counts right back into the indictment.” Others agree, saying a grand jury could be called and the charges could be redrafted to meet Judge McAfee’s standards.

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